For no other reason than it's getting on my nerves, not having written a novel yet. I have written 89,000something words so there is no reason I cannot shape this into an actual book that I won't be embarrassed to have my name on.

Writing a novel is something I talked about since I was in elementary school, but at some point I discovered nonfiction writing and it was so much easier, because you didn't have to sew the dress from scratch, you could just take somebody else's old muslin sack and turn it into a hot date-night ensemble. Or whatever. So I did that for 50 years, give or take a few pre-verbal years when I was doing strictly reporting.

But it is time to crack open the fiction. Not that non-fiction is not worthy and wonderful — people like my beloved Susan Orlean show how un-boring non-fiction can be — but just for me, I need to write a work of fiction. It has become a Thing I have to Do.

So, I'm just gonna make myself write from 8 to noon, every day, until the damn thing is done.

If you see me commenting on here during those hours, feel free to tell me to get the hell out of here. If I don't finish this thing it will just torment me forever and I'm tired of thinking about it. So this is my public promise to force myself to do it, I guess.

Wish me luck, OK? I need luck and a lot of swift kicks. A lazy writer is really a sad, sad thing. I just have to do the work and finish, just for me, y'know?

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Whatever you're putting off, you should Just Do It. Let's just get 'er done!